Citing a "commercial source," French language blog MacBidouille claims that production of Apple's new iMac models may not be ready (machine translation) for sales ahead of the lucrative holiday shopping season, speculating that the company's advanced welding process is to blame for the delay.

During Apple's quarterly earnings conference call, which was held shortly after the new iMac's debut, Cook said that there would be a "significant shortage" of the all-in-one, but declined to offer details on the matter.

Apple had introduced the new iMac at a special event held in San Jose, California. The highlight of the new iMac is its thickness, which at 5mm, is thinner than most monitors, not to mention other all-in-one computers.

As per the original schedule, the new iMac was expected to start shipping this month. Any slippage from this schedule will be a big blow to Apple, as the new iMac is expected to be a really popular item during the upcoming holiday season.

The 21.5-inch iMac is expected to retail at Rs. 85,900 and upwards, while the 27-inch version will start at Rs. 122,900.